Kyle Soderman

Kyle Soderman is a ninja coach and current stuntman from Minnesota, currently living in LA. He worked alongside Hunter Guerard and Sarah Schoback in Schoback's Ninja Warrior gym, Obstacle Academy.

He currently works as a stuntman for Los Angeles' Universal Studios, which is where the Los Angeles courses have always been held since American Ninja Warrior 8.

Soderman made his ANW debut in American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja, as a member of the Lizard Kings. However, he didn't compete in the main show until American Ninja Warrior 11.

American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja[]

During his experience as a member of the Lizard Kings in Ninja vs. Ninja, he won the first race against Kevin Bull in Round 1. However, he later lost against Daniel Gil in a race against the Iron Grip. However, their team struggled heavily on the relay race, with him tripping on the Floating Tiles and causing a 5-second penalty for his teammate, Hunter Guerard. Their team ultimately lost the relay races against Iron Grip.

He did manage to bounce back winning races against Ethan Swanson from the Midwest Muscle in the wildcard round and Adam Rayl from the Tri Hards in the playoffs. But the end of the relay against the Tri Hards, they lost against them.

American Ninja Warrior 11[]

Kyle Soderman, however, did not participate in the regular season until American Ninja Warrior 11 in Los Angeles.

During qualifiers, he and Hunter Guerard were anticipating to go head to head on the new Power Tower. While Kyle managed to breeze through the first five obstacles in almost 70 seconds, he made a huge gamble to go for the Mega Wall. From there, he came fingertips from finishing with a top 2 time and therefore participate against Guerard in the Power Tower. He was unable to succeed in his next two attempts, therefore failing the Mega Wall in qualifying and placing 12th overall.

Kyle_Soderman_Slips_Up_-_American_Ninja_Warrior_Los_Angeles_City_Finals_2019_(Digital_Exclusive) — Kyle Soderman Slips Up - American Ninja Warrior Los Angeles City Finals 2019 (Digital Exclusive)

In the city finals, Kyle's run was digested, but it was shown that he blazed through the first six obstacles, but he shockingly failed on the Salmon Ladder, placing 22nd and ultimately not moving on to National Finals. His full run, however, was shown as a digital exclusive, where it was explained that he had a good run going, but got careless on the third rung, causing the left side to be uneven.

He was originally invited back to compete on season 12 before the COVID-19 pandemic delayed production, and he ended up not making the cut on the modified season.

American Ninja Warrior 13[]

Kyle competed in the 5th episode of qualifiers. His run was fast forwarded. He attempted the Mega Wall, and got close but failed. He had no problem with the regular wall though and finished a little faster than his friend Hunter Guerard, placing 7th overall.

Kyle later competed in the final episode of semifinals. His run there was also digested, but he got revenge on the Salmon Ladder. Then he chose to go for the Diving Boards at Split Decision and cleared. He subsequently than cleared the entire semifinals course with the fourth fastest time and he moved on to Las Vegas for the first time in his career.

In Las Vegas he made a big first impression. He was one of the few to clear The High Road in Stage 1 and he finished the course with the second fastest time. In Stage 2 he moved with a solid pace and was one of only four to make the reverse grab on Falling Shelves. He ended up clearing Stage 2 with the third fastest time. In Stage 3 he powered through the first three obstacles but ran out of strength on the Ultimate Cliffhanger. He had the fourth best performance of the season.

American Ninja Warrior 14[]

Kyle returned for his third season, first competing in the fifth and last qualifying episode. His run was digested, but he once again cleared the course, doing so in 6th place. Additionally after missing it in both season 11 and 13, he finally got the Mega Wall and won $10,000.

Kyle later competed in the second semifinals episode. There he cleared the first seven obstacles with relative ease despite a close call on Hopscotch. He ended up going out on the eighth obstacle, falling on the first drop of the Box Office. He placed 8th overall, earning his second straight trip to the national finals.

Kyle competed in the National Finals and was shown in the first episode of Stage One. His run was digested, but he cleared The High Road for the second straight season, and he once again finished Stage One with the second fastest time. On Stage Two his run was again, digested. He made it through the first 4 obstacles, but the upper body obstacles seemed to take a toll on his heavier weight (180 lbs), as he failed on the fifth obstacle, Hornet's Nest, ending his season.

American Ninja Warrior 15[]

He came back to compete in ANW 15 in the seventh qualifier. It looked like he was going to finish in 1:20 and once again attempt the Mega Wall, but in a surprising twist, he fell on the insanely difficult Lasso Launch. Despite this being the first time he failed to complete a qualifying course since his debut, he still placed 4th and advanced to the semifinals.

Kyle later competed in the third semifinal. He was up against Sylas Snider, and they were neck-and-neck on Slingshot, until Snider fell on that obstacle. Kyle then finished the course, guaranteeing a return trip to the national finals.

His run on Stage One was digested, but it was shown that he had a nailbiting run. This season, as High Road wasn't an option, he was forced to take the normal path, this time being Thread the Needle, and he wasn't able to complete it as he couldn't hold on to the cargo net. Despite this being his first time failing Stage One, he still advanced to Stage Two for the third year in a row by placing 22nd. On Stage Two, he took on Caleb Bergstrom. Kyle was behind for most of the race, and eventually fell on the Falling Shelves while Caleb cleared the course. Even so, Kyle made the top 4 non-winners, and advanced to the runoff races, going against Josiah Pippel. Josiah ended up failing Epic Air Surfer, while Kyle cleared the obstacle and advanced to Stage Three. However, he once again failed the Ultimate Cliffhanger, failing in almost the exact same way as ANW13 and became the second ninja after Sean Bryan to fail the Ultimate Cliffhanger twice.

Other Appearances[]

Ultimate Beastmaster[]

Kyle competed in Season 2 of Netflix's Ultimate Beastmaster as a member of the US team.

American Ninja Warrior: Couples Championship[]

Kyle, alongside Megan Johnson, returned on the American Ninja Warrior: Couple's Championship. On the first round, Megan got two points, but ended up falling on Air Surfer, so Kyle continued the round, and completed the remaining 3 obstacles and hit the buzzer. They ended up with five points, and advanced to the next round. There, they cruised through the first 7 obstacles, but Megan once again ended up falling, this time on Ghost Town. So, their only hope to stay alive is to complete the final two obstacles, in which Kyle successfully did it, and made it to the buzzer again. They ended up with 9 points, so both of them, alongside Chris DiGangi and Jesse Labreck (with 8.5 points) advanced to the Power Tower.

On the final round, Kyle pushed ahead early on the Switchbacks, without looking back, a full obstacle further than DiGangi. When he tagged Megan, she was able to hold off Jesse on the dropping shelves, and in a big upset for her and DiGangi, Megan made it to the buzzer first, achieving the win for her and Kyle, and taking home the $25.000 grand prize.

Trivia[]

Due to his explosive speed, Kyle got the nickname Soda-Pop from Akbar during Ninja Vs. Ninja.
Despite not officially competing on the show until American Ninja Warrior 11, Soderman was still seen supporting Hunter Guerard on the sidelines during some of his runs prior.
He appeared in a MrBeast video, where he had to tag 10 players to receive $10,000. However, he only managed to tag 6 people and got $6,000.

American Ninja Warrior Results[]

ANW	Result	Notes
13	Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger (Stage Three)
14	Failed Hornet's Nest (Stage Two)
15	Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger (Stage Three)	Failed Thread the Needle on Stage One and Falling Shelves on Stage Two but was allowed to advance due to the change in format.